WASHINGTON — National Right to Life strongly criticized Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar (D) and Tina Smith (D) for voting against invoking cloture on the Pregnant Students’ Rights Act, blocking consideration of a commonsense bill that would have ensured pregnant and parenting students are informed of the rights, accommodations, and resources already available to them under federal law.

The U.S. Senate failed to advance the legislation after the cloture vote fell short 47–45, well below the 60 votes required to proceed. Sens. Klobuchar and Smith voted to not even allow consideration or debate concerning the life-affirming of legislation.

“It is deeply troubling that Minnesota’s senators voted to block a bill that simply ensures pregnant and parenting students know their rights,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “No student should ever feel forced to choose between continuing her education and carrying her child to term.”

The Pregnant Students’ Rights Act would have required colleges and universities to clearly and consistently communicate existing protections for pregnant and parenting students. The legislation did not create new regulations, penalties, or compliance burdens for schools.

The votes cast by Sens. Klobuchar and Smith are consistent with their long-standing records of support for unlimited abortion, including opposition to rational protections for unborn children and support for policies that allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy while overriding state-level safeguards.

Tobias stated, “Rather than supporting a bill focused on transparency and awareness for pregnant students, both senators again sided with an abortion lobby that treats pregnancy as a problem to be eliminated rather than a life to be supported.”

By opposing cloture, Sens. Klobuchar and Smith voted to block a measure aimed solely at ensuring women are not pressured toward abortion because they believe motherhood is incompatible with academic success.

“Pregnancy should never be treated as a liability or an inconvenience,” Tobias continued. “Blocking this legislation sends a troubling message to pregnant students in Minnesota who deserve honesty, support, and respect—not silence or pressure.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.